Astral Projections presents A Literary Halloween! For October, I am providing stats inspired by tales from some of my favorite fantasy authors. Today is my final installment — for now… [Sound FX: Creepy, shrill laughter]
Nancy A. Collins has written all kinds of scary stuff–Southern Gothic, vampires (including Vampirella graphic novels!), and urban fantasy. One of her series that I’ve enjoyed is the Golgotham trilogy, set in a fictional part of New York City inhabited by all kinds of fantasy creatures, including a witch/warlock race. There are card-carrying centaur Teamsters. And feeding a familiar is as easy as feeding a tabby or Lab — just drag out the bag of Purina® Familiar Chow and dump some in a big bowl!
Many high-class (and wealthy-scumbag) Golgotham witches/warlocks have these familiars, which are usually sentient, sometimes talking, animals that can turn into big, demonic monsters. The familiar is bound to its master/mistress and must obey their commands. They can be killed normally; a defeated familiar is banished to their native dimension and cannot return for 24 hours. I have 2 favorites from the books. One is a (mostly) dainty snake that spends much of her time as cool, elegant jewelry for a cool, elegant lady. The other is a snarly bat-winged cat, who, it turns out, is as almost as susceptible to the charms of a warm puppy as I am. (I’m very susceptible, ask my Lab mix.)
Design & Play Notes: Both familiars are based on the Mutants & Masterminds 3e Gamemasters Guide stats for the basic animals (Lion and Viper) with alterations and additions for their magical nature. Immortality 5 works well for the banishment. The PDFs linked below were created with Hero Lab Classic.
Credit: Thanks to Empty Bacta tank for feedback.
Linda Whitson
Latest posts by Linda Whitson (see all)
- Astral Projections – The Ripperdoc Is In - May 8, 2023
